Two division titles in three years leaves fans wanting more

Sep. 12, 2013

The Reds blanked the Cubs in a must-win game on Wednesday. / The Enquirer/Leigh Taylor

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A slow-motion quality infected the Reds' just-finished three games with the Chicago Cubs. The team in the pennant race looked every bit as weary as the team in last place. Even though the Reds drubbed the Cubbies Wednesday, salvaging one of the three, pennant fever didn’t seem to be spreading.

Dusty Baker wouldn’t agree with that. While the manager will concede his team has yet to produce a “run’’ -- one of those seven-, eight-, nine-wins-in-a-row carpet rides -- he will also remind you that the Reds haven’t been disastrous, either.

“Everybody’s tired right now,’’ he said, speaking of all of Baseball, not just his players. “You don’t really get a second wind. You operate on fumes. You’ve got to play hard every day and have some things go your way.

“You’ve got to have some balls fall in, and you’ve got to have some belief. Belief will take you a long way. Belief from your town. Belief from your organization, from the president to the janitor. Sometimes, you’re bombarded by negativism. Why, you don’t know.’’

Baker has advised his players to “have faith, not listen to negatives. You can’t let anybody control your self esteem.’’

He said this wasn’t a shot across RedsFan’s bow. Baker wasn’t saying you don’t believe. He was saying he doesn’t appreciate what he perceives as negative local vibes. “I wish everybody in town was like Teddy,’’ Baker decided, a reference to Teddy Kremer, the young adult with Down syndrome who has served as a batboy, and currently works part time in the team’s customer relations department.

Maybe you’re spoiled. Two division titles in three years leaves you wanting more. Ownership, to its credit, has fueled your expectations. Until the past week, ritual drubbings at the hands of the Cardinals might have left you skeptical. Whatever it is, it is true that this team has not captured your imagination the way last year’s team did, or the 2010 team.

The Cubs series might have provided a clue or two, as to why. Losing the first two games – including the laborious, big snore-ious 9-1 pounding Tuesday night – reinforced the notion that this team continues to tread water, even after its 6-1 run through the Cardinals and Dodgers. Baker would answer that by saying, “A run is coming. You don’t know when. It could be (in the) playoffs. It could be next week.’’

It could be. But we’re not in the fortune-telling game.

“Momentum goes day to day,’’ Baker said. “If you have a good-pitched game, you have momentum.’’ The Reds have had lots of good-pitched games. Their starting pitching has been consistently very good. The momentum?

It comes and goes and frustrates. For a week, the Reds are doing 85 in a 55 zone. Then they’re Sunday-driving at 45 in the fast lane.

When they need to win, they mostly do. Such as Wednesday. Mike Leake wasn’t great, but he was smart and tough. He threw his 90th pitch with two outs in the fifth, and No. 100 exactly an inning later. The bullpen made it hold up.

On days such as Wednesday – hot, sunny, air like syrup – balls fly out of Great American Small Park. Devin Mesoraco popped an upper-deck solo shot in the fourth; Jack Hannahan clinched things in the sixth, with a three-run pinch bomb to the sun deck in right. It was his first homer as a Red, in 129 at-bats.

The Reds took care of business. Now, they head to Milwaukee and Houston, which should be like a carnivore heading for bacon. A run? Momentum?

If the Dog Days are past us, what are we in now?

“The dog days hit when you’re on a (losing) team,’’ Ryan Ludwick said. “I’m sure there are guys over there (in the visiting clubhouse) who can’t wait to get home. They’re not playing for anything. Guys in here, everyone’s pretty fresh. That tired, sluggish feeling is a lot less on a team that’s winning.’’

Maybe so.

Regardless, you’re still waiting to fall hard for this team. Dusty Baker is discontented with perceived negativism. And the players play on. Fifteen games to go. Either they’re tired or fresh, ready to run or ready to run in place. Every day, the script changes.